Glenn Beck Defends James Gunn After Disney Firing over Child Rape Tweets: ‘We All Make Mistakes’

Rob Kim/Getty ImagesWARNER TODD HUSTON21 Jul 2018

Radio talker Glenn Beck put forth a defense of disgraced Disney movie director James Gunn, who was fired due to years of “jokes” about child rape.

Beck took to Twitter to back Gunn despite his many vile posts about pedophilia.

“I will stand for you. We all make mistakes, we must come together as each of us grow and change,” Beck said to Gunn. “Forgive others in hope that they will forgive themselves and others too. Reach beyond your comfort zone and be kind. You don’t need my forgiveness J.G, but I offer friendship.”

@jamesGunn I will stand for you.We all make mistakes, we must come together as each of us grow and change.Forgive others in hope that they will forgive themselves and others too. Reach beyond your comfort zone and be kind. You don’t need my forgiveness J.G, but I offer friendship https://t.co/qaD6snFPhM

The director of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise was fired from directing the forthcoming third installment after several of Gunn’s tweets about masturbating to children resurfaced.

In a Twitter apology, Gunn admitted to the disgusting tweets, but insisted that he has “grown” as a person from his attitudes of less than a decade ago, when he was in his forties.

Beck’s defense came just hours before Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) called for the prosecution of Gunn, should evidence of any intent behind his child rape tweets arise.

Beck entered the conversation as conservatives debated amongst each other over Gunn’s firing. Some have come to the position that firing people over tweets, even tweets as disgusting as Gunn’s, should not result in the loss of a job.

Washington Free Beacon executive editor Sonny Bunch, for instance, thinks it is a bad precedent to fire people over tweets. “I dunno, maybe we’d all be better off in a world where we weren’t constantly trying to get people fired for things that have nothing to do with their jobs. Just spitballing here. Just thinking out loud,” Bunch tweeted after the firing was announced.

Another conservative Twitter user, Neontaster, has also criticized Gunn’s firing. Indeed, Neontaster accepted that Gunn’s horrible tweets were “just jokes” that should not rise to a firing offense.

Pedophilia is INCREDIBLY SERIOUS and just calling someone that because you can make some kind of tenuous semantic connection between something they joked about and actual pedophilia is totally in bad faith. /2

Another conservative who found himself less than concerned over the firing was writer Jim Treacher who tweeted, “I can’t help but notice that it’s never considered the outrage mob’s fault when a Republican gets mobbed.”

Treacher also wondered what the difference is between the Gunn firing and the end of Roseanne Barr’s firing.

I wasn't surprised by Roseanne's firing. I'm mildly surprised by James Gunn's firing. In both cases, Disney can do what it wants with its own employees.

If you applauded one but are outraged by the other… what's the difference between the two?